Building a nest

Only when the suffocating metal serpent finally stopped prowling and slowly descended into the low forest outside the Silver Capital, far across from the docks, did the entire royal capital seem to break free of a collective nightmare and breathe again.

Boom!!!

The serpent did not settle lightly to the ground. It slammed into the earth with tremendous momentum.

In an instant, dust billowed skyward like the mushroom cloud of an explosion, and an immense shock wave swept outward in a ring, carrying broken timber and shattered stone.

The trees struck directly snapped and toppled like fragile matchsticks, leaving a shocking depression in the ground.

Boer stood on the serpent's head, his white hair streaming in the turbulent air. His gaze swept slowly over the land beneath him like the most precise measuring instrument, surveying the ground he was about to transform. Once he had confirmed the boundaries, he gave a slight impulse of thought.

The next second, the metal forming the serpent's body began to writhe and change shape like a living thing.

Circular, toothed blades more than two meters across were "drawn" out of the enormous serpent's surface, gleaming coldly and arranged in neat rows like its scales.

Driven powerfully by an invisible magnetic field, the terrifying blades began to spin, slowly at first, then faster, emitting a shrill, teeth-grating whine until they became whirling storms of deadly metal!

Wherever the toothed blades passed, towering trees that would take several people to encircle, dense shrubs and thorn bushes, and scattered rocks and mounds of earth were all effortlessly shredded and leveled amid piercing sounds of tearing!

Viewed from above, an enormous rectangle, as regular as though drawn with a ruler, was being forcibly "gouged" out of the primeval forest with unstoppable force, exposing the dark soil beneath.

When the people in the city followed the serpent toward the forest with eyes still full of fear and witnessed this scene of "logging and land clearing," the cowed nobles seemed to regain the ability to breathe, yet the chill in their hearts only deepened.

Outside the field camp where Boer was temporarily staying, the Steel Heavy Industry Consortium's two chief designers-Copperhammer Augustine and Hunter Winster-stood side by side, gazing at the land being rapidly cleared in the distance.

Short, stocky, and dark-skinned, his muscles knotted like old tree roots, Copperhammer folded his arms excitedly, his thick beard trembling slightly with enthusiasm.

"See that, old friend? That's power! Power truly put to creation! Come on, let's get over there. A sight like this is more stunning than ten thousand drawings!"

His booming voice rang out as he spoke to the tall, thin old Hunter, who stood beside him leaning on a cane. "Have my apprentice Tock carry you, and get your granddaughter Beryl to bring all our preliminary plans. Hurry! I can't wait to find out what he intends to build!"

With his white hair immaculately combed and a monocle over one eye, Hunter showed none of Copperhammer's overt excitement, but the keen light flashing in his eyes betrayed his inner unrest.

He tapped his cane lightly against the ground and said with feeling, "This young man... possesses such a revolutionary power, yet he didn't choose the simplest path-using violence to slaughter and conquer the nobles outright. He chose a cleverer, more frightening method: deterrence. I dare say that for the next six months to a year, the nobles throughout the kingdom will be like birds startled by a bowstring, as docile as sheep."

He paused, a knowing smile touching his lips. "And by the time that period is over, the 'Iron Kingdom' he wants to establish will probably have begun to take shape. Then the surging tide of industry will naturally crush those outdated forces that fail to recognize the times and try to stand in its way, silently, just like this metal serpent. He won't even... have to dirty his own hands."

In the forest, Boer's "construction" proceeded with astonishing efficiency.

He seized great quantities of shredded timber with iron particles, lifting them into the air as though supported by countless invisible hands. Several sharp metal blades then flew past, precisely cutting the wood into roughly uniform beams and planks, before stacking them neatly like building blocks along the edge of the cleared site in small mountains.

This timber would become valuable material for temporary work sheds, auxiliary facilities, and even parts of building structures.

Once the enormous site, four hundred meters long and one hundred meters wide, had been roughly leveled, Boer once again demonstrated his exquisite command of metal, controlling it as naturally as his own limbs.

The toothed serpent that had earned the first credit for "clearing the land" disintegrated in an instant. The torrent of metal gathered and took shape once more. A new metal creation was born, even more functional and visually oppressive!

Its head was no longer a savage serpent's head, but an enormous solid conical drill three meters in diameter and five meters long. Fierce spiral grooves and backward-facing metal barbs covered its surface, gleaming cold and hard in the sunlight; merely looking at it suggested a penetrating force that nothing could withstand. Behind it stretched a hollow tube roughly seventy meters long, slightly narrower than the drill, its inner walls smooth as a mirror-the perfect channel for transporting debris. Its tail had been fashioned into a heavy compacting roller covered in raised ridges.

This new "engineering serpent" lay quietly on the freshly cleared ground, its entire body gleaming with a cold metallic light.

It had no eyes or scales, only the purest, most uncompromisingly functional form, radiating suffocating pressure.

Whir-boom!!!

Driven by the full force of Boer's will, the entire drill head began spinning madly, too fast for the naked eye to follow! A deep, terrifying roar erupted at once, like the bellow of an ancient beast sleeping beneath the earth. It made the distant spectators' eardrums throb and their hearts race involuntarily to its rhythm.

The rapidly spinning spiral drill, barbs and all, tore effortlessly into the earth.

Surface soil and tree roots were sliced and shredded like butter; hard rocks buried deep underground were stripped away layer by layer by the spiral grooves and broken apart amid deafening friction and impacts!

Propelled by the powerful magnetic field, the metal serpent "swam" steadily forward, slowly but utterly unstoppably.

Everything pulverized by the drill-stone fragments, soil, and remaining plant roots and stems-was rapidly sucked into the hollow tube behind it by the negative pressure formed behind the drill and physical propulsion.

But this was no simple digging and dumping. Once the serpent had advanced about fifty meters, Boer would halt it temporarily and focus his mental power on the fill that had entered the rear section of the tube.

In an instant, tremendous pressure squeezed inward from every direction along the metal tube's inner walls! The loose material was compressed immediately under that immense force, its density rising sharply, even exceeding the standard achieved by repeated manual tamping.

Once the fill in a section of the tube had been compacted and discharged, the roller at the serpent's tail would slam down like an enormous hammer, perfectly embedding the fill into the prepared foundation surface and making it flatter and firmer.

"Pulverize-suck in-advance-tamp-compact." The cycle repeated again and again.

As the metal serpent advanced, a firm, level foundation far beyond the technological standards of the era was built simultaneously under intense pressure.

After an entire morning of uninterrupted, strenuous, high-precision work, even Boer's mental power, honed through prolonged intensive training, was feeling waves of fatigue. His body trembled slightly beyond his control, and fine beads of sweat appeared at his temples.

But the expenditure was worth it.

Across the entire forty-thousand-square-meter factory site stretched an immense, exceptionally flat and solid foundation platform, like a training ground prepared for a future giant.

Finally, Boer drew a deep breath and made the metal serpent disintegrate.

Large quantities of metal became flowing silver streams that rose from the ground, then poured down like mercury, evenly covering and permeating the surface of the freshly tamped foundation.

They formed a dense metal-composite foundation layer that provided a measure of moisture resistance and reinforcement.

Under the midday sun, the entire site glittered with specks of metallic light, as though inlaid with countless tiny diamonds.

Boer floated slowly down, landing before Copperhammer and Hunter, who had been waiting for quite some time.

The coldness of the "metal sovereign" had faded from his face, replaced by a warm, gentle smile tinged with fatigue, as though he were merely a young man from next door who had just finished some heavy labor.

"It's been a long time since I exerted myself like that," he said lightly, with a hint of humor. "Feels more tiring than a fight. Now that you've seen the site, masters, do you have any other requirements? If so, I'll make the changes right away."

Behind the two masters stood Roland, Thatch, and several club nobles who had hurried over, their faces still somewhat pale despite their efforts to remain composed.

Not one of them dared harbor the slightest objection to Boer leaving them aside to concentrate on "work" first. Their gazes were filled with awe, and even a trace of the fear one might feel toward something inhuman.

"Hahaha! Excellent! Absolutely excellent! I, Copperhammer, have rarely seen a foundation like this in all my life!" The dwarf designer rubbed his large hands together, his smile as radiant as a chrysanthemum in full bloom.

He immediately turned to signal his apprentice. "Tock, quick! Show Lord Boer our plans!"

Pointing at the parchment spread before Boer, covered in intricate lines and annotations, he explained excitedly:

"My lord, we've discussed it, and we'll start by building a Comprehensive Metal Smelting and Processing Center! Once we've taken this first step on solid footing, we'll have our own 'blood bank' and 'heart'! Our team of craftsmen can handle many of the later processes themselves, such as forging blades and armor components. We certainly wouldn't dare take up too much more of your valuable time! What do you think?"

Boer studied the plans carefully. Although he did not fully understand many of the technical symbols, he trusted the two masters' professional judgment.

"Of course, that's no problem," he praised them sincerely. "I have complete faith in the judgment you two have reached with your professional expertise. You decide exactly how to build it. Whenever you need my help, just say the word."

Boer's trust and high regard made Copperhammer's smile even brighter, filling him with enthusiasm.

Then Boer turned his gaze to the ever-calm mechanic Hunter, who looked more like a scholar. A hint of solemnity appeared on his face, as though he were about to make an important announcement.

"Mr. Hunter," Boer began slowly, choosing his words, "regarding the factory's power core, I actually... still have a few cards I haven't revealed." He paused, seemingly considering his phrasing, then opened his right hand.

The next moment, the magnetic field in the air was forcibly twisted and accelerated. Wisps of dancing blue sparks materialized in his palm with faint crackling sounds, rapidly gathering into a fist-sized ball of electricity that flickered unstably!

Its dazzling light illuminated his young yet unfathomable face, and Hunter's abruptly contracting pupils.

"As you can see, besides controlling magnetic fields, I can also generate and manipulate electric currents to a certain extent." Boer's voice was calm, yet it exploded like thunder in Hunter's ears.

"I can even store it." As he spoke, he gently pulled open the collar of his everyday clothes, revealing two delicate rings, one gold and one silver, encased in black metal and worn against his body. A faint but steady radiance flowed over their surfaces, and they vaguely emanated a strange energy field.

"These are my... Energy Cores." Boer gave a slightly apologetic smile. "I didn't deliberately mean to conceal this from you. It's just that this involves some of my personal secrets and reserves. I hope you understand."

The frail old Hunter's mouth hung slightly open. His eyes, so accustomed to mechanical drawings and so full of wisdom, now blazed with unprecedented shock and fervor! Generating electricity? Storing electrical energy? This... this was a miraculous ability that overturned everything he had learned in his entire life!

In his mind, the enormous, complicated transmission systems, boiler rooms, and chimney layouts originally designed around steam, water, and even animal power... were all swept aside at that moment! In their place came the blueprint for a simpler, more efficient, more powerful, and cleaner "electromagnetic power" system! Wires replaced belts and gears, electric motors replaced steam engines, and precise electromagnetic control replaced cumbersome mechanical linkages...

"You... you've given me the surprise of a lifetime! No, a fright!" Hunter abruptly clutched the clothing over his chest, as though afraid his heart might leap out. His other hand trembled as he removed his monocle and vigorously wiped away the cold sweat that had instantly appeared on his forehead.

His voice was somewhat distorted by extreme excitement. "With this, the entire factory design... will have to be redone from scratch! But this is a more perfect path!"

Boer watched Hunter, who had almost fallen into a frenzy of thought, and Copperhammer beside him, who knew little about electricity but was still baring his teeth in astonishment at the dancing electric ball. He knew that the spark of industry he had planted was about to set this land ablaze in a way far beyond anything he had originally imagined.